New York Giants History Part 2 (1979-1990)

The New York Giants dominated two decades of football with names like Parcells, Taylor, and Simms.

New York Giants: Leadership
After being one of the crown jewels in the NFL since 1925, the New York Giants had fallen on hard times. Poor roster decisions and bad coaching had doomed the proud franchise to years of mediocrity or worse. Fans who had bought New York Giants tickets for a generation demanded a change, and it was swift in coming. In 1979, the New York Giants hired new head coach Ray Perkins and general manager George Young, and one of the greatest rebuilding processes in sports history began.

New York Giants: Puzzle Pieces
The first step in the building process was the selection of a new quarterback to build around. Most fans with New York Giants tickets had not heard of Phil Simms when he was selected seventh overall in the 1979 NFL Draft. Phil Simms did not find much love from the New York Giants faithful once he put on a helmet as the NY Giants struggled while Phil Simms got pounded behind a poor offensive line. All of these losses did add something besides bruises to Phil Simms’ body; they gave the New York Giants the second overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft.

Doubtful fans with New York Giants tickets had no idea how big the selecting of North Carolina Tar Heels OLB Lawrence Taylor with the No. 2 pick would be. “L.T.” would come to define the pass rusher and would make the sack an official NFL stat. New York Giants defensive coordinator Bill Parcells unleashed Lawrence Taylor from his 3-4 defense, and a monster was born. Lawrence Taylor won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and had opposing QBs marking their date with the New York Giants on their calendars.

New York Giants: Big Blue
The 3-4 of the New York Giants defense was built around the “Crunch Bunch” linebacking corps, with Lawrence Taylor being the young rusher with veterans providing both experience and on-the-job training for Lawrence Taylor. The 1982 NFL players strike threw a monkey wrench into the New York Giants’ plans, but the departure of head coach Ray Perkins was seen as a possible franchise-killer. The promotion of defensive coordinator Bill Parcells to New York Giants head coach was seen as a gamble but paid off.

The drafting of linebackers Carl Banks and Leonard Marshall to the New York Giants over the next few seasons and the addition of RB Joe Morris and FB Maurice Carthon proved to be some of the best moves in New York Giants history. The New York Giants were built to pound the football on offense and crush the passer on defense and a new philosophy was born. Bill Parcells also emerged as a great head coach and the long-suffering of fans with New York Giants tickets ended in the mid-1980s as the “Big Blue” defense carried them into dominance of the NFL.

New York Giants: Super Bowl XXI
The 1986-87 New York Giants season would be one to remember as Bill Parcells had the team he had always dreamed of. Defensive coordinator Bill Belichick launched Lawrence Taylor upon the NFL, and L.T. racked up 20.5 sacks on the season. Fans with New York Giants tickets watched the New York Giants log a 14-2 record thanks to the great passing of QB Phil Simms and the dual rushing attack of Joe Morris and Ottis Anderson. The New York Giants had struggled in previous playoff attempts, but Bill Parcells would not let his talented NY Giants team rest and pushed them to Super Bowl XXI.

The New York Giants faced QB John Elway and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. Fans with New York Giants tickets were nervous about John Elway because the young quarterback had shown his big-game ability with “The Drive” in the 1987 AFC Championship game. John Elway had never seen a defense like the Big Blue, however, and Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks smothered the young QB on the pass rush. Phil Simms was nearly perfect with the football and set an NFL record for passing percentage. The New York Giants won Super Bowl XXI 39-20 and sent fans with New York Giants tickets into a frenzy!

New York Giants: Super Bowl XXV
The New York Giants went through some rough times for the remainder of the 1980s, and off-the-field problems with players like Lawrence Taylor overshadowed the accomplishments of players out of the spotlight. The 1989-90 New York Giants season saw Bill Parcells achieve another dominant record of 13-3, and the quarterback duo of Phil Simms and Jim Hostetler helped out the powerful defense. Talk of an undefeated season was ended by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12, but the loss actually helped focus the team on the Super Bowl.

The New York Giants cruised through the opening game of the playoffs but were tested in a classic NFC Championship game against Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. Super Bowl XXV became a battle of the legendary New York Giants defense against the high-powered offense of the Buffalo Bills and QB Jim Kelly. The meeting of the two styles excited fans with New York Giants tickets as they knew it would make for a classic matchup. The duty of stopping Jim Kelly fell to defensive coordinator Bill Belichick and his linebackers.

The power-run attack of the New York Giants proved to be the key, and old veteran RB Ottis Anderson kept moving the chains and gave the New York Giants a Super Bowl record for time of possession along with RB Dave Meggett. The New York Giants defense came up clutch in several spots, and fans with New York Giants tickets were on the edge of their seats as a last-second Buffalo Bills field goal missed and preserved the 20-19 Super Bowl XXV victory for the NY Giants.

New York Giants: Sunset
Bill Parcells retired after Super Bowl XXV but would surface in the NFL several times again. Bill Parcells became a coaching icon because of the game and eventually found his way to the NFL Hall of Fame. Defensive coordinator Bill Belichick and assistant coach Tom Coughlin left to begin their own head-coaching careers. Fans with New York Giants tickets knew that their Golden Age had ended, but they were left with a great franchise that would see the Super Bowl again.